Capital LTE: “Providence Point Advertising: Buyer Beware”

Capital Gazette: Letters to the Editor, October 21, 2019

Seniors in this area are being bombarded with mailings offering free lunches and full-page ads in The Capital promoting sales of units at the Crystal Spring site, now called the Village at Providence Point. For $1,000 down, seniors are guaranteed a choice of units that don’t exist but allegedly will be built by 2023.

The developer’s sales pitch tells seniors they expect city approval by the end of 2019. The reality is that the plans are so deficient they are far from being approved nine months after they were filed with the city in January.

The city has notified the developer that their plans do not meet even the minimal requirements of environmental laws covering forest protection and replanting as well as stormwater runoff pollution. The city’s five pages of deficiencies will add significant costs and result in moving, eliminating or downsizing units proposed for sale. The city is rightfully insisting on changes to prevent the destruction of 30 acres of forest, replanting all forest cleared, and much better stormwater management. The City also notes improper siting requirements and failure to submit details on required conservation easements.

The city also told the developer to expect notification on other flaws concerning design, code compliance and architecture. This means there must be even more substantial changes.

The homes they propose cost up to nearly $1.4 million for two people, plus a monthly fee of $5,600 — which doesn’t include health care.

Buyer beware!

NANCY PLAXICO, ANNAPOLIS

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